Ariel cars in New Zealand (am importing a Nomad)

[A Hermit]

Nothing has come up when I search on this, so hoping I am not revisiting this topic for the Nth time ...

I am planning to import my yet-to-be-built Ariel Nomad into NZ for February 2018 arrival (due for completion later this year). Ariel tell me that they are aware that 8 or 9 Atoms have been exported to NZ but no Nomads (to their knowledge) so far.

Are any of those 8 or 9 Atom owners on the Kiwi end of PH ? If so, I'm looking for advice as to how easy it was to the get the car imported. They've not been homologated for NZ, so on import I'm guessing they require low volume vehicle (LVV) certification. How easy is that (do the cars require much modification) and how expensive ? I will have owned the car for less than 1 year, so am already looking at paying GST on import ... so if LVV certification is another large chunk of cash I might have to switch to bringing the car in temporarily on a Carnet, re-exporting to the UK and then exporting permanently when I've owned it for longer (and will be in NZ more in 2-3 years time as well). I know that sounds mad, but I have a two month sabbatical from work due in Feb-Mar 2018 and somehow I can't think of a better use of that time than touring NZ in a Nomad with a couple of friends joining for stretches along the way ....

The general consensus is to use Karman for shipping, and I can get it shipped to Christchurch (suits me better than Auckland or anywhere on North Island), so that seems easy, it's more the headache (or not) that I should expect once the car actually hits NZ shores.

While I'm at it - how easy is it to get an Ariel serviced in NZ with no official representative ? I'm guessing the Honda engine means that a friendly Honda engineer can look after the mechanicals, but are there any recommended service places or unofficial Ariel specialists (OK, with only 8-9 cars to work on, that's pretty niche, but you get the idea !!).

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated ! Thanks !!

[A Hermit]

Ben - Assuming I can get it imported and certified, I may well be in touch nearer the time to pick your brains about some of those roads ! I hope that's OK ? I'll be based out of Queenstown, but will be touring South Island, both on road and off. I've done a bit of homework on recommended routes, but a local's knowledge is always better !!

[A Hermit]

Thanks Fraster - I just looked up Atom Johnny and he has not posted since May 2015, so I'm guessing no longer a visitor, but I will try to PM him and he if he is contactable. Thanks for the advice.

[A Hermit]

Thanks for all the comments - I will try contacting Delray, but I've made a bit of progress since I first posted, so I'm now not sure if I need to. The car definitely needs certifying on entry, so I emailed the three big Certifiers in NZ (AA, VTNZ, etc) who unanimously told me that the car will need LVV certification. So I contacted the LVVTA and they said (i) they remembered that Atoms were LVV certified in the past, and that (ii) these Atoms were all certified under LVV standard 1(D), ie: a scratch-built vehicle.

So ... where I stand now is I have an email in to the LVVTA to see what information I need to provide for a 1(D) LVV certification, but I understand they are always very busy and so heard nothing back (emailed them last Wednesday).

If the LVVTA go dark on me, the next route I'm considering is to contact directly some of the LVV certifiers who are registered to do 1(D) certification. I've got all their details from the LVVTA website but not a single one seems to have an email address so I'm going to have to make some calls in the middle of the night (my time) to see if one of these guys will speak to me to tell me what documentation I will need to provide along with the car. The problem is that I've had guests staying over in the past few days, so not had the time to dedicate. They leave tomorrow (Tuesday) so sometime this week I'll get phoning around.

Does anyone (maybe from the kit-car or modd-ing community in NZ) have a friendly certifier with 1(D) [scratch-built] registration they could recommend to me ? An email address would also be fantastic !! I don't mind where they are based, because I can just have the car shipped to the nearest port. I'll be based out of Queenstown, but no problem driving down from Auckland if that is where the certifier is!

I'll keep everyone posted - thanks again !

[A Hermit]

Atom Johnny - thank you for your reply and advice. Having just got up at 4.45am this morning I have spoken with Scott at Fraser Cars and he has kindly agreed to help me get the Nomad through the LVV certification process. You are right in saying that Scott has certified at least one of the Atoms currently in NZ (possibly more).

The next issue I have run up against is that NZ has some pretty strict rules on suspension design and geometry, requiring drawings to be sent to the LVVTA for them to decide if the design is adequate at a monthly meeting. I have no idea if this is required for all LVV cars (probably not) but for an imported car that was not built using the LVVTA's Car Construction Manual it is a requirement. I have just emailed the LVVTA (Dan Myers is very helpful) and Ariel cars jointly and I'm hoping that Ariel can send the required drawings to the LVVTA directly (to avoid IP / copyright issues).

Thanks again to everyone for thoughts and advice, and I'll post updates as i go along (in case anyone is interested!).

[A Hermit]

That's exactly the sort of road I had in mind when I started this venture ! I have specc-ed a front winch and shackles, etc, and all the underbody protection that Ariel offer, so a few adventures will definitely be called for, but lack of 4WD means I'm not looking to take the Nomad to the very extremes. Equally, I'm not looking to emulate rally stages - I don't want to annoy anyone or be "that idiot" who ruins access for others. But some good open dirt tracks with decent visibility and some incredible views like that would fit the bill 100%. Your picture has certainly whetted my appetite - whereabouts was it taken ?

Not much new to report since 4th September. The car is still a little way off being built, and I can't really progress the import process until Ariel have sent the suspension diagrams to the LVVTA for sign off at one of their monthly committee meetings. I understand the meetings tend to be near the start of each month, so hopefully Ariel will send the diagrams in time for the November meeting at the latest so I know for certain it is worthwhile me putting the car on a boat in December. Fingers crossed !!

[A Hermit]

It's been a while, so i thought I'd update on where i have got to on the Nomad importing-to-NZ project. The car was finished in late November and was put on a boat immediately (I didn't even get to see it as we needed to make a particular sailing). Ariel insisted on arranging the shipping themselves to make sure that the VAT/GST exemption would be smooth here in the UK. After 8 weeks the car arrived in Auckland last Sunday and was delivered to Scott at Fraser Cars for certification on Thursday just gone ... so the first Nomad has eventually made it to NZ !

Shipping costs were £4,170 inc VAT, door to door, including managing the import process and local delivery within NZ. GST of about £7,500 on top of the car, ex-VAT, at around £45,000. Quite a lot, I agree, but we are only on this planet once.

Two minor bits of damage in transit (bent rear bumper and a clip on the nose cover went missing) but it could have been a lot worse.

The roof rack you can see below is an Ariel one-off design for me (but I guess they will do it for any one else that asks!). Wasn't that expensive, and I think it integrates the spot-lights well. Handy for any touring. I arrive in NZ on Feb 8th for two months, and can't wait to see the beast in the metal !

Photos courtesy of Scott at Fraser Cars.

[A Hermit]

[A Hermit]

GravelBen said:

That really does look like a lot of fun!

Thanks Ben - It looks like it will be March before I get the car through the LVVTA regs, but I'll get in touch once I get the car down to QT !

[A Hermit]

Mansells Tash said:

Awesome! That is just around the corner from me (I'll resist the temptation to go see it and sit in it before you).

Do you intend to do any driving around Auckland or shall it be heading South to meet you? I can suggest a pretty damn good "shakedown route" I did on my motorbike which is mostly gravel and takes you North of Auckland, from the East to West coast then back to the Puhoi pub.

I'll also be getting my Evo IX MR off a ship from Japan on the 16th Feb.

Hi there MT - It will probably be March before the car gets through LVVTA regs, so your Evo IX will have arrived by the time I get it on the road ... but when it is I plan to do the 1,000 mile run in around North Island and then take it back to Fraser Cars for the first 1,000 mile service before then driving it down to QT. Probably take me a weekend ? So, yes, I'll get in touch and would be very grateful for all suggestions of a shakedown route ! Got a lot of organising to do before coming out to NZ in early Feb, but i'll be in touch nearer the time. Cheers !

[A Hermit]

SimoninSingapore said:

Just wondering how it is all going in NZ. I am thinking about bringing a Nomad down myself. Overall thoughts from you?

Hi Simon ... I STILL can't tell you !

The situation is as follows. The car landed on 23rd Jan (as per above) ... and I have been trying to get LVVTA certification ever since. I still do not have it. The short version of the problem is that the car is being certified using kit-car regulations. The LVVTA has very specific regulations regarding a number of areas of the car, particularly suspension. If you are building a kit car or one-off car in NZ you know this, so you build accordingly. Obviously Ariel built the Nomad to their own specs and did not consider NZ kit-car rules. So the car falls foul of a lot of the LVVTA rules, and we have been trying to address these issues and potentially get exemptions ever since. Another issue is that the relevant team in the LVVTA only meet once per month, so they meet, they decide they need more info, we send it, they meet ... etc.

Frankly, it is still not 100% certain I will ever get full certification. I truly hope so, and Scott Tristram at Fraser Cars in Auckland has been a complete star in wading through the process, and helping me get through the disappointments. I have my fingers crossed.

As and when (or if) I ever do get certification and the Nomad is allowed on the road in NZ I will definitely post an update with the process (and the cost).

The good news for you is that I am the guinea pig. If (still a big IF) I do get certification then Scott at Fraser Cars will have all of the required information to hand and he will be able to get you through the process much quicker and cheaper. He is very much THE MAN on the Nomad in NZ now. Although he might have become sick of the car by the time we are finished given that it has been in his garage for over three months !

I will keep everyone posted ...

[A Hermit]

And Simon, if I do get certification, and you follow me and take advantage of the fact that i have done all the hard (and expensive) bit, I drink both beer and wine !

[A Hermit]

Hey there Zadkiel

Short answer is that we're not there yet, but having spoken with the LVVTA a month or so ago I think we can get there ... eventually.

As previous posts said, the Nomad falls foul of various LVVTA rules regarding suspension and steering. We initially spent some time trying to get exemptions from the rules, but have given up as they were not forthcoming. The LVVTA was (perhaps understandably) not prepared to set a precedent of giving rule exemptions.

So now we are in the process of getting a number of pieces of the Nomad remanufactured to LVVTA rules. This includes:

The biggest work is needed on the A-arms: The LVVTA insists that all wheels have camber adjustment and it strongly advises toe adjustment. The Nomad has neither, so we need to get new end-pieces for the A-arms made that enable camber and toe adjustment. This involves Fraser Cars designing the relevant pieces, submitting to the LVVTA for approval and then getting them manufactured. A-arm end pieces also need to be TIG-welded on, not MIG-welded (or the other way round, I can't remember ... whatever Ariel use is not up to snuff and so we have to do the other method - pretty sure it is TIG welding).
Steering column: the Nomad has a welded end-piece where the seat for the steering wheel joins the column. This is not allowed, so we need to get a single-piece column milled.
Steering rods: the Nomad has end pieces welded onto the rods. This too is not allowed so i need to get one-piece rods manufactured with no welding.

Those are the main issues (the A-arms and camber/toe adjustment is THE big issue, really). I think Scott at Fraser cars had all the drawing done for the remanufacturing work in time for the LVVTA meeting that was held today, so hopefully we can get those signed off soon and then get everything made up. There are a few other minor adjustments required as well, but I have my fingers crossed that the Nomad will be on the road for late-July. Might be August ... but then i'm not back in NZ until next year, so the urgency I had earlier on this year is gone.

I'm not in a position to shares costs of all this yet - mainly because Scott hasn't worked them out yet (!) - but will share here once I get everything done. Including shipping, etc, my guess is that the total cost of import and homologation will be +/- £10,000 / NZD20,000, but this will be abnormal because there has been a chunk of costs relating to getting drawings done of the car as is, which the LVVTA insisted on and Ariel would not provide (so Scott had to do them front scratch). We have also been down a few dead-ends with the LVVTA which any other person would be able to avoid.

I will let you know when we get there !

[A Hermit]

My understanding is that none of the Atoms in NZ are 100% stock - they have had some hardware tweaks to get them through LVVTA rules. That said, none of them will have been modified as much as my Nomad will be. The biggest issue with the Nomad is the suspension set-up, and of course that is completely different to the Atom.

Once I have got my one over all the hurdles, it should be a lot easier for anyone else to bring a Nomad in.

You can get it shipped door-to-door from Ariel to Fraser Cars, including getting the shipping co to manage through customs, etc.
Once your car is on the boat, call Scott at Fraser and he can get the parts made up during the 8 weeks on the sea.
Car arrives and could probably be modified within 1-2 days if Scott has all the parts pre-ordered.
The only delay would be the need to wait for the next monthly LVVTA meeting, but that should be a formality as they will know the car and the modifications made by Fraser Cars by then.
Once signed off by LVVTA, Scott registers car and gets plates and you a are on your way !

As you observe, my problem is that I have been the guinea-pig. I've had to get all sorts of drawings done for the Nomad as is. We have had to partially dismantle the car and send parts to the LVVTA for them to study ... then we have had to have a series of negotiations with the LVVTA about what needs to be done, and now we need to get new parts designed and drawn up ... and made ... and LVVTA approved ... etc.

Ah well, it will be worth it in the end !

[A Hermit]

Well, it took over a year, but my Nomad is eventually on the road in New Zealand as of February 19th !

To update on everything since my last post of June 2018, we got the drawings for all the alterations required by the LVVTA signed off by August, and it took about a month to get them all manufactured by third parties. The project then went to sleep for a few months as I did not get back to NZ until mid-February just gone. We then had a last minute problem with the evidence for the seat belt tests, but after some last minute panics I was on the road on Feb 19th.

Other major alterations / costs required over and above those I have listed before on this thread are:

• Roof lights are illegal in NZ unless they are for working purposes, so the guys at Fraser cars had to rewire the roof lights onto a separate circuit to the main headlights so we could tell the regulator that they are not used on the road.
• Even though Ariel claims that the seat belt mounts for the Nomad comply to EEC rules, they don;t have any documentation to prove this - they have self-certified this fact. Unfortunately the LVVTA would not accept this, so we had to get new seat belt mounts made, tested and installed.
• There was then a long list of other small alterations that were required.

The total cost of the project was ... gulp ... £77,400 / NZD 147,000. This breaks down as:

The car (ex-VAT): £46,400 (N/A engine, all the off-road kit, Fox shocks, pretty high spec, custom roof rack, roof lights, etc)
Shipping: £4,700 (door to door, inc managing through customs)
GST on arrival: £7,400 (NZ VAT)
Drawings, etc £3,200 (inc all the to-ing and fro-ing with the LVVTA)
Parts, labour £13,400 (the cost of all the conversion, parts, etc)
Certification /reg. £2,200

Anybody else doing the same thing will be able to avoid the £3,200 for drawings, etc, and some of the cost of conversion, but not much. It would be hard to bring in a Nomad to NZ even now for much less than £72,500, unless you go for a very low spec vehicle.

So was it worth it ? I only got to play with my new toy for two weeks before having to come back to the UK, but the short answer is "oh yes!!"

I picked the car up from Fraser cars in Auckland and spent 8 days driving 3,000km to take it down to Queenstown via Coromandel, Gisborne, Napier, the ferry at Wellington, Nelson, Arthur's Pass and QT. There were so many great, empty roads that I could not even remember them all, let alone list them, but the drive from Opotiki to Gisborne along SH2 was spectacular, as was part of the drive from Nelson to Arthurs Pass. The car is so much fun - accelerates so easily for overtaking when needed, and once you get used to the initial lean in on the Fox shocks on cornering, it grips very well too. I spent a day on the gravel tracks around the Coromandel peninsular - again, a complete hoot ... although I discovered I did not know how to use my GoPro, so as opposed to 40 minutes of footage of me rallying, I got one photo of the road at the start. Oh well, lesson learned for next time. I did not have time for much off-roading once down in Otago, so I will be out and about to learn all that on my next trip over.

All up, yes, it is a complete toy and yes it cost way more than i had planned and took so much longer than I had planned too, but we are only on this planet once, and I'm so glad to have got the Nomad let loose into a country for which in my view is was actually designed (without Ariel knowing it).

Gravel Ben - I will be in touch when I know i'm next going to be heading to QT and hopefully we can meet for a drive or two.

Edited by A Hermit on Saturday 9th March 16:37

[A Hermit]

Start of the trip at Fraser Cars


Lots of this type of traffic ...


... and these blue skies


Apart from one day, that is, when it heaved down and I needed a break after a while under a handy flyover


Journey's end by the lake in Queenstown (well, Frankton, to be exact)


The roof rack Ariel made is super-handy


After my second time off off-roading, where I had to turn back after crossing the Arrow river six times because the seventh time it just looked wayyyy too deep for the Nomad. But a fun day ...

[A Hermit]

[quote=CR6ZZ]Congratulations!! You must be thrilled, and hats off to your perseverance. After some 18 years my project was finally completed just last week (although there are some minor electrical gremlins to work through). It has gained LVVTA approval and I am taking it for its first certification inspection on Wednesday. Then, all going well, on to the final official inspection for its wof and registration. Wish me luck.

Wow - the GT40 has always been my dream car, and yours looks spectacular. That you have spent 18 years working on it fills me with awe and inadequacy ! A huge well done, and I have every digit crossed that you sail through the final bureaucratic hurdles with ease.

[A Hermit]

RobDickinson said:

Mad bd lol good work.

Afik unless things have changed the drive out to macetown the first crossing by arrowtown is the deepest. I've not done it for a few years though.

I was by myself and learning the route as I went along. After the first 5 or 6 crossings near Arrowtown - where I managed to find shallow enough paths across - the track just disappeared into the river, and when I got out to find out where it went, it did not appear to re-emerge for about 60 or 70 meters. I couldn't see any other route, but as I said, I was winging it ! I got out and waded into the river to have a look-see and there were sections in that 60-70 meter stretch that just looked a bit too deep for the Nomad. It will happily go through a foot or more of water, but some of these bits looked to be nearer 2 feet, and I did not want to flood the engine after less than 2 weeks of ownership ! When I am back in QT for more time I will join a club and learn the best routes (and hopefully head out with people who do not mind bailing me out in the event of a disaster!).

[A Hermit]

GravelBen said:

I think thats the main point of 4wd clubs, they just take turns getting stuck and towing each other out!

I guess if you haven't got stuck you were not trying hard enough.

[A Hermit]

Mansells Tash said:

Awesome! Glad to hear you got it in eventually! I run a club in Auckland that goes out on monthly drive outs (usually early morning) to go have fun on the roads ending with a cup of tea/coffee. The club is for WRC homologation cars and actual rally cars, however if you're free this Saturday AM and want to come for a drive let me know, we're going to do some Targa Tarmac stages around Huntly and Hamilton and we'll have a Group-N Evo 4 Ex-works car leading the charge.

Thanks MT, but i'm now back in the UK, unfortunately, so won't be around on Saturday. I'll be based down in Queenstown normally, so not that local, but if i am back at your end of NZ I'd love to meet up. Enjoy the drive on Saturday !